Single, successful Kate is worried about her best friend, Andy, who seems to have dropped off the face of the Earth. When Andy's friend Daniel figures out that Andy was last seen on a Turkish island, he decides to fly over and look for him. He asks Kate to come with him. The trouble is that Kate and Daniel have a history, with Kate blaming him for enabling Andy's unsavoury habits in the past.
Stuck together on a beautiful island, the two frenemies keep being mistaken for a couple on their honeymoon. If they could put their differences aside this just might be the start of something new.
Not in a Million Years is the latest romantic comedy by Sophie Ranald, the author of
P.S. I Hate You and
Santa, Please Bring Me a Boyfriend. It's part of a loose series with her previous two novels, containing some crossover characters, but is a stand-alone novel.
P.S. I Hate You covered Andy's betrayal of his friends, Matt and Abbie, but now we get to hear more of the background from Andy's perspective, as well as how it affected Kate and Daniel. While it is marketed as a romantic comedy, a lot of this book is about drug addiction and its effects on not just the addict, but their family and friends. It gets a bit intense at times, which is not a bad thing, but not exactly a "laugh-out-loud, snort-inducing read" like the publishers said.
The book does have its lighter moments, with Sophie Ranald's classic British swearing, and I like the character of Kate, who deals with her insomnia by baking cakes in the middle of the night.
Not in a Million Years is not exactly a feel-good romantic comedy, but it does have characters you can care about and a happy ending. If you like it, you should check out some of the novels in Sophie Ranald's previous series,
It's Not You, It's Him and
Sorry, Not Sorry.
Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book from Bookouture, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.
Published: February 22, 2023.
